Pied Piper

Right now I'm concepting ideas for the Pied Piper.

Again, my workflow begins with research, writing down ideas and iconography, and sketching.

I've decided that the pied piper NEEDS four things.
1. a pipe.
2. "pied" clothing (which I learned is having two or more colors).
3. Rats.
and 4. A scared child cowering in fear.

With these icons I hope to convey the story of the pied piper within my "sci-fai" theme.

This is the first drawing I made and was completed before I came up with my thesis proposal:

With this model I made the pipe also an ax and added some ambiguous scifi tubes that connect from his shoulder to his head. other than that he's just a generic ringmaster-looking dude. However I do like

 his facial hair and it's probably the only thing I would use from this drawing in the final sculpt. Unaware at the time I gave him a hunger games looking face....

I started to think about how I would get a job as a character modeler and realized that that job is extremely competative and I'm still a newbie. I was told that there are at least 10 environment modelers for every character modeler and that most people get a job as a environment artist and slowly work their way up to characters. As a result I have talked with my instructors and decided that it would be best if I include some sort of environment and scene for my character models. This would not only help display my interest and skill in environment modeling but it would also help support the mythology I'm trying to create around my characters. 

With that in mind I made my second drawing:

 I was given a bunch of constructive feedback on this drawing.

1. The piper doesn't look like hes really pulling back on the rat and that there's no tension.

2. I should make a scene that can be used in a turn around, and therefor the alley is a horrible choice for that. However the child hiding behind something makes sense.

3. I should visually connect the piper to the child so that a story can be derived more clearly. I put children skulls on his strap but was made aware that they look like small adult skulls and it didnt work the way I hoped. A guest speaker gave me the idea to attach a teddy bear or some other child paraphernalia to his wardrobe.)

I almost completely repainted the drawing and made the alteration advised by my instructors and peers. However I'm still working with his color scheme.

I'm not so concerned with perspective for these concepts since they will be accurate once modeled in 3d. but at least this informs me with aesthetic choices including camera angle, pose, and lighting. 

I'm still figuring out what to do with the scene in order to tell the story that I have in mind. 

I want the feeling to convey something like this:

....but with ROUS (rodents of unusual size)

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Thinking about the barrier that separates the child from the pied piper I have found some references:

a rococo fence with s rat sticking its nose between the metal bars and sniffing for the child who is hiding behind the concrete wall just a foot away.

I mostly like this scene since it would be fun to sculpt, but it may not be as appropriate as some sort of post apocalyptic rubble, or shelter, or dumpster, or broken down vehicle. Although in the future I imagine a building like this would be preserved if not just overgrown and be a perfect safe haven for lost kids. 

I really like this scene that I found online. I can picture the child hiding behind this car as a rat is on top of the hood unable to see the kid but smelling the air as if its just about to find them. 

I envision the pied piper as a drifter that would walk down city streets looking for food. enticing children with music..and even resorting to cannibalism.